SEATTLE (AP) — A 43-year-old Bellevue man has been sentenced to six years in prison for his role in a mortgage scheme that defrauded financial institutions out of millions.
U.S. District Judge Richard Jones told Mark Steven Ashmore at Friday’s sentencing that the scheme was about greed, lies and manipulation. Ashmore was ordered to pay $904,000 in restitution.
A jury convicted him last September of conspiracy and three counts of wire fraud.
Three other defendants indicted in the scheme pleaded guilty. They testified to Ashmore’s role recruiting people as “straw buyers” to buy homes in the Seattle area and lie on loan applications.
The Seattle Times reports the loans were for larger amounts than the property’s value. Ashmore and others pocketed the difference.
